1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of image generation. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus that deliver imagery with embedded data that can be used to efficiently render design concepts.
2. Discussion of the Background
Graphic designers, artists and other creative producers typically use two techniques to present creative concepts in a manner which closely approximates the appearance of the final product. The first technique is that of physically building a prototype. Construction of a design prototype (e.g., for product packaging) typically requires the output of the design or artwork onto a material suitable in flexibility and strength for the building of prototype. The design or artwork is output onto paper using various printing techniques (including, for example, hand printing and inkjet printing), glued to a stiff material such as, for example, cardboard, trimmed and then folded and glued into final form. The difficulty of constructing a prototype varies greatly and depends on the complexity and form of the final design. For concepts that require materials other than paper or cardboard (e.g., translucent materials) “mocking up” (as this physical building process is called) can be extremely time consuming and costly. Once the concept is constructed it may be traditionally presented in physical form. Photographs of the physical concept may be made and presented in lieu of the concept, especially when transport of the physical concept is impractical.
Recently, artists and designers have begun to use computers to develop ideas. In addition the development of the Internet has led to the use of email as a common method for exchanging text and imagery. The wide-spread use and integration of software which can read and write high resolution image data in many file formats (including, but not limited to, Portable Document Format (PDF), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), or Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) formats) as well as increasingly available broadband connections to email and the web have greatly increased the use of high resolution imagery in representing various kinds of information.
Designers often exchange images with clients to represent design concepts. However, the ability to precisely communicate the subtle details and form of a design is lacking. Commonly, designers provide flat graphic representations of the concept to clients. These flat graphic representations lack the three-dimensional form and photographic cues to properly illustrate the design concept.
Simulating a design concept three-dimensionally on a computer is recent in comparison to constructing a design concept physically. Here, the process typically begins with constructing a virtual model “wireframe” on a computer inside a three-dimensional application. The artwork or design is then imported into the three-dimensional application and applied to a three-dimensional object. Lighting is set up inside the virtual scene, the virtual “camera” is positioned and a final image is rendered. This technique is also quite time consuming and requires a very specialized skill set which the artist or designer who created the concept rarely possesses. An important deficiency of this technique is that a reduction in the time spent building, lighting and rendering the model usually results in a substantially less realistic final rendering of the concept.
A hybrid of the two concepts is a promising approach. Here, a photograph of a “real” object or scene with computer imagery rendered onto the surface provides the realism of an actual photograph combined with the speed and convenience of three-dimensional rendering. However, constructing and photographing the object is still quite time consuming.
PHOTOSHOP® (Adobe Systems Inc., San Jose, Calif.) is one example of a software application specifically designed for compositing imagery which is commonly used by photographers, retouchers, effects artists and designers to compose a final image from a number of photographic sources. Image compositing software such as PHOTOSHOP® provides a useful method for applying artwork to a photographic surface with image layers and multiple compositing settings.
Many companies, commonly known as “stock photo agencies,” sell “stock” illustration and photography to a worldwide market. Stock photo agencies sell images and illustrations of various objects and scenes for reuse by artists and designers.
Some companies sell “cut out” images (photos of objects with background and shadow information completely removed that have been placed on a solid white background). These images are solely flat images (i.e., they contain only one plane of image data where, for example, the white background runs together with the object image data as one continuous image). Occasionally, the images contain vector path data which allows an image to be trimmed out to appear on a transparent background.
The process for using these cut out images to create an on-screen photographic design composite is still quite time-consuming and complex since imagery applied to the surfaces of the objects or scenes depicted in these stock photos must be manipulated, stretched and hand trimmed in order to fit a surface. Without additional sophisticated retouching, a design concept cannot be pasted onto stock art, which are flat files that lack critical surface data.
Thus, current stock photos are only slightly more efficient than directly photographing the object. Accordingly, what is needed is photographic imagery which contains the necessary trimming and surface data to trim and map pasted artwork within a common compositing application such as, for example, PHOTOSHOP®, that provides efficient methods of producing.
Thus there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus that permits for a user to generate highly sophisticated artwork with a minimal amount of skill. The method and apparatus should be capable of rendering realistic geometries and/or surfaces, and permit modification of the image or scene with a minimal amount of user input.